The Student's union has it's own letting agency (bottom floor of the SU), which unlike lots of the other agencies does not charge agency fees, so you'll save money if you find a house with them. Apart from that the uni won't help you really, but everyone is in the same boat so it's not too scary
. This site is quite good for getting advice about living in private accomodation:
http://www.cardiffdigs.co.uk/Advice: - Don't rush into a house in terms of the house itself and who you live with - the agencies will try to tell you that all the good houses will go by Christmas, which is absolutely 100% not true! By all means start looking around December-Jan but there's no need to make any hasty decisions until a few months later if you haven't found the house for you.
- Try to letting agencies that don't charge agency fees first (agency fees are simply a fee per person to make the house yours, on top of rent and deposits etc, so are effectively a complete con). Most agencies charge this fee so you might ed up having to pay it, but at least try to SU agency before doing so.
- When you view houses ask the tenants if they've had any issues - they're much more likely to tell you the truth than the person trying to let the house.
- You can barter the price down (especially if it's later on in the year). Don't ask, don't get
Hope that's in some way helpful. Let me know if you have any more questions. I live in Talybont and then 3 different student houses in Cathays and Roath for the rest of my degree, so know a fair bit about house hunting in that area.